Youri Tielemans, time of the Little Prince

Youri Tielemans, time of the Little Prince. Author of an average exercise last year, Yuri Tielemans should have a leading role this season in Monaco with the departure of several executives in the middle. But the young Belgian is used to feeling the weight of expectations.

The sun of July beats loudly on the Turbie when Youri Tielemans, crampons in hand, makes its appearance in Monaco. Only a fortnight has passed since the end of the World Cup, but the midfielder has decided to shorten his holidays when the entirety of the Red Devils still enjoys their holidays. For Tielemans, things have moved. Fabinho and Moutinho left and leave the Monegasque midfielder to the only recruits and the young Belgian. The latter, aware that he has a revenge to take after an average first season in France, did not hesitate to advance his return to prepare the best early deadlines. ” He’s the first to admit that he did not spark last year says Christophe Franken, the journalist for the Belgian daily La Dernière Heure. He is someone who knows what is being said about him in the press, or even on social networks. And when he is stung, he wants to answer on the ground.”

He will have the opportunity this year. On the Rock, a young player just arrived can become a cadre of the team the following season, the fault of the economic policy of the ASM which involves incessant comings and goings. But Tielemans assures: ” I have adapted well, I know better the coach and the staff, their working methods. (…) I spoke with the coach and he made me understand that I had to show all my qualities during this season”. With only 1500 minutes on the clock in Ligue 1 in the previous year, the 21-year-old midfielder experienced a special season, he who was used to being an indisputable holder in Anderlecht. But he knew that Leonardo Jardim liked to take his time with the young shoots, and despite the solicitations of clubs more affluent, Tielemans did not hesitate. ” He chose Monaco for playing time,” continues Christophe Franken. With the departure of Moutinho, we leave him the keys of the house”Especially since the Monegasque has never hidden his preference for the relay runner position, the one occupied by Joao Moutinho for several years. Alongside Jean-Eudes Aholou and Alexandre Golovin when he is recovered from his injury, Tielemans will have to embody the renewal of the Monegasque midfield, surely in a 4-3-3 set up during the summer preparation.
“In Monaco, everyone calls him the grandpa”
It will not be the first time that Tielemans is expected at the turn. This is the story of his young career according to Christophe Franken: ” There has always been a lot of expectations for Anderlecht, from his first tenure to the attribution of captaincy. He has already had more delicate passages but he has the sense of competition, each time he manages to level. If he has not held indisputable with the Red Devils this summer, Tielemans has achieved a satisfactory World Cup, punctuated by two assists, and can rely on this dynamic to continue with Monaco. Yet there, too, nothing had been spared him. “He was, in spite of himself, the victim of the non-selection of Nainggolan. He had also thrown a few spades, but Thielemans did not respond and focused on the World Cup. He is very mature, he is married, already has a child. In Monaco, everyone calls him the grandpa. In summary, Tielemans has the legs of a 21-year-old player but the mentality of a 30-year-old executive. And it is in the face of nascent responsibilities that he has, in the past, been able to make himself indispensable. What is certain is that he will not be able to hide this season on the Rock.